World Class to World Best, from February 21-24, brings together Australia’s high performance sporting leaders to focus on what it will take for Australian sport to prosper as we navigate the next decade towards Brisbane 2032, and beyond.

Now in its seventh year, World Class to World Best boasts an impressive line-up of speakers, including keynotes from #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author, TED Speaker and award-winning Harvard Psychologist Susan David Ph.D, Olympic Gold winning coach, performance consultant & Fijian Rugby Sevens chief Ben Ryan and transformational leadership expert Fabian Dattner. The full event program is available online at ais.gov.au/events/wc2wb.

AIS Acting CEO Matti Clements said this year’s conference is a key opportunity for high performance sports as they reflect on the success of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics and put plans in place for future success.

“World Class to World Best is a unique chance for Australian high performance coaches, directors, managers and support staff to come together to play a part in ensuring we are at the frontiers of sport,” said Clements.

“To do that, we also need to look towards industries and leaders beyond the sporting realm and explore how we can adapt their successful strategies, concepts, ideas and innovation to Australian sport.

“We had fantastic performances at the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympic Games, but the competitive world of international sport means that if you don’t continue to progress and evolve, then you’ll effectively fall behind.”

“Emotional agility, people, strategy and culture are themes that will be explored. These are essential elements to high performance sport and we are looking forward to providing the opportunity for our industry to take the time to expand their horizons and learn from others.

“We are proud to welcome presentations from international speakers such as psychology expert Professor Sophia Jowett on developing World Best Coach-Athlete Relationships and Sports Scientist and Clinical Sport Psychologist Dr. John Sullivan who will speak about team culture within high performance industries - from elite military and aerospace to high performance sport.

“As we look forward towards the Brisbane 2032 games, World Class to World Best will bring together industry leaders from within and outside of high performance sport to share insights and ideas about how we can continue to prosper and win well.

Additional highlights of the 2022 World Class to World Best conference include:

• Award-winning Harvard Medical School psychologist, author of Emotional Agility and keynote speaker Susan David Ph.D will explore the psychological skills that are critical to thriving in times of complexity and change.
• Doctor of sports psychology and culture coach, Pippa Grange will give a keynote address on framing diversity as harmony, adaptations for the future and the great value of keeping the soul in winning.
• Tamara Sheppard (High Performance Director, Swimming Australia), Rohan Taylor (Swimming Australia Head Coach) and Jess Hansen (Olympic Swimmer) will take part in an insightful Q+A panel titled: Performance by design for Tokyo success and the importance of the athlete leadership group.